Also available in ebook format US and Canadian Rights
Jersey is an albino of mixed race. Known as "Snowball" on the street, he tends bar at a speakeasy the locals call the Ink Well. There, he's considered a hero for having saved the life of a young boy. But when his old grade school buddy, Aaron Garvey, calls from death row and asks for one last favor, all hell breaks loose.
Jersey finds himself running from a band of crooked cops, hiding an escaped convict in the Ink Well, and reuniting with his grammar school crush-the now sultry Myra Banks, who has shed a club foot and become a speakeasy siren. Through it all, Jersey tries to safeguard the Ink Well with no help other than his ragtag group of friends: his ex-boxing-champion father, Ernie Leo; the street-savvy Johalis; a dim-witted dockworker named Homer; and the dubious palm reader Madame Curio. With them, Jersey digs for the truth about his friend Aaron Garvey-and winds up discovering a few things about himself.
“Hits a comfortable niche between hard-boiled and breezy…. Blind Moon Alley is a fun, fast read that bodes well for another Jersey Leo installment.”
-Philadelphia Inquirer
“Compelling….Florio has an unerring feel for the era and people, and we believe in these characters. Readers will cheer for Leo, a tough guy with a heart of hurt.”
-Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
“Jersey’s second caper, which finds room for several quirky characters in its crannies, is hard-boiled enough to remind readers of Hammett and Chandler.”
-Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Sugar Pop Moon:
“Don’t miss this absolutely riveting, gritty debut coming-of-age tale. Absorbing and briskly paced.”
-Library Journal STARRED REVIEW
“A fast-paced tale where you never know what’s coming next…. One of those good, old prohibition-style mob stories that brings a tear to the eye and a laugh out loud…. Readers will definitely hope [for] more Jersey Leo stories.”
-Suspense Magazine
“This is a hard-boiled, Prohibition-era novel and Jersey Leo is a well-developed, engaging character….”
-Booklist
John Florio is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in print, on the web, and on television. He is the author of Sugar Pop Moon and Blind Moon Alley-the first two Jersey Leo crime novels-and One Punch from the Promised Land: Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, and the Myth of the Heavyweight Title. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Ouisie Shapiro.
Visit him at
johnfloriowriter.com